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Really helpful piece by @sirjjkc.bsky.social for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk on the tricky question of how and when retrospective legislation is appropriate and what it it might mean for the legislation currently in Lords on political donations. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/retr...

Legislating for the past: What is retrospective legislation and when is it ok? | Institute for Government

What is meant by “retrospective” legislation, and can it ever be acceptable?

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Let me know if it works for you now.

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Try it again. Just been to fix that.

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Matthew Fright @matthewfright.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

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Following Angela Rayner's decision to fully review her predecessor’s LGR decisions, today at 12.30, the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk, in partnership with @grantthorntonuk.bsky.social, has brought together a great panel to discuss how this came about and what happens next. Sign up details below.

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Must-read for @louisehaighmp.bsky.social by the excellent @hannahkeenan.bsky.social - Don't just call it a taskforce and parachute new people into centre duplicating others - Do have a small agile core - Do keep asking if the taskforce is working www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/task...

A collaborative taskforce can help a government deliver its priorities | Institute for Government

Andy Burnham and Lousie Haigh have an uphill battle to overcome taskforce scepticism.

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So i'm glad the govt has belatedly agreed with us. As @sirjjkc.bsky.social says, its good to see guidance directed at ministers to support more consistency on legal risk. As long as they don't forget sometimes the law helps make policy better. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/new-...

New government, new legal risk guidance | Institute for Government

New guidance is an insight into the government’s attitude to the law and legal risk.

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In the end, we argued: a. good policy was far less likely to be challenged b. a lot of frustrations could be improved by better use of legal advice through the process - so it's not a 'lawyer says no' at the end c. Ultimately its for ministers, and the PM, to decide what risk they want to bear

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We also found that ministerial attitudes to legal risk were v variable. It can change minister to minister. For inexperienced mins, hearing words like 'high risk' can be v worrisome. Others know it comes with territory and happy to press ahead.

Not everyone in the government has the same legal risk appetite. There are differences between officials, departments and ministers. We were told that departments’ failure to communicate with one another about legal risk appetite can be a source of frustration.
Ministers’ background and experience have a strong influence on their risk appetite.
Some junior ministers, having less experience than secretaries of state, have “no palpable sense of what high legal risk means” in policy and political terms. For some, this means that they “get scared” and show low risk appetite. One former official described the range of responses: some ministers “would take what lawyers say as gospel”, others would be engaged and prepared to ask questions and test the advice, but the most difficult were those who “totally refused to accept the fundamentals on which officials and lawyers were giving advice”, leading to the problem of finding the right language to explain to them why they could not break the law

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Depts are v variable in how they respond to legal risk. For some depts it is daily, for others v rare. But even then, the nature of the policy can mean different approaches.

In Defra, which has had 40 years of operating with a bedrock of EU legislation, “no one moves without talking to their lawyers”; the law is seen as “totemic” and that can influence how “risky” any course of action is perceived to be. However, in the Home Office, risk appetite is higher, at least where the minister’s political objective is a ‘crackdown’ approach to enforcement. As an official said: “If the government takes an aggressive position on deporting people (for example) it is going to encounter these problems. It is for the government to choose if they want to magnify these problems.”
In fact, judicial review is sometimes considered a political tool in itself. More than one interviewee told us that with certain Home Office decisions, politicians would find it more politically palatable to be forced to abandon a policy or action by a court than to abandon it themselves.

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Back in 2021, frustration with JR or legal advice hampering policy was very in vogue. But, as we pointed out, there had been very little done to look at how legal advice affects policy making. And yet the impact of JR is as much about how the risk of legal challenge.

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In 2021 we looked at how legal advice intersects with policy making. We came to same conclusion the govt now seems to have drawn: ultimately its for ministers to decide how much legal risk they want to take. They have the power to set the culture. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Judicial review and policy making | Institute for Government

Ministers and officials should accept that judicial review improves policy.

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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Good tip, otherwise it could get emmbbbarrrasssing.

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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

p.s. apologies for the mutliple ts in my original post but... caaaaaabinet committttteeeeees please.

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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Or maybe they are largely the same. But, as we no longer have a CSPM, let's see which ones CDL/ 1st Secretary chairs. Also to see how the taskforces fit alongside them. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/ca...

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*I’m not sure it’s a first order decision so probably someone thinks about it once in a blue moon and some books are shuffled The whole thing is more of a tradition/ opportunity for departing PM/ ministers to add to the history of the building. I wouldn’t set too much store by the whole thing

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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 21/08/2026

The actual bookshelves are, as I recall, in the Cabinet Room. I think maybe different PMs decide* what to have in there, so not all books are put on display. I guess others might be placed elsewhere?

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How can special advisers in the Burnham government get things done? @paddy-mcalary.bsky.social and @meganbryer.bsky.social set out five tips for how spads can get the most out of their time in government www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/spec...

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I think i got told about it on a No10 tour. I think it tends to be their own books. There are some amusing additions because of that.

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I know you were all discussing this this morning, but i was busy. Yes it's a thing, no it's not new. There was a tradition of former PM's/ ministers stocking the No10 library. Goes back to c.1930s? Supposedly Blair era didn't, but Johnson 'brought it back' (see Telegraph on that).

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Mid-term prime ministers – Episode 3: Adjusting to the role

🚨Episode Three of Mid-Term Prime Ministers We dig into early election pressure all mid-term PMs go through, and the Brown, May and Johnson versions of that Talk about how long the honeymoon period lasts And explore how mid-term PMs to adjust to the role podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...

podcasts.apple.com

Podcast Episode · Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government · 20 August · 37min

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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

🚨 New podcast Second in our mid-term PMs series The transition - why reshuffles much more precarious for mid-term PMs - whether they think enough about organising No10 - the all impt q of how to balance continuity v change from their predecessor www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

Mid-term prime ministers – Episode 2: The transition | Institute for Government

Episode two of our series takes a closer look at what happened in the first weeks and months of the mid-term premierships from Major to Sunak.

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Vicky Elliott @msvkelliott.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Great holiday listening if you're away over the summer, or everyday listening if you're not. Loved hearing @cathhaddon.bsky.social 's expert views with a fascinating range of guests from both quite far in the past and very recent transitions.

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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 10/08/2026

NEW PODCAST SERIES 🎙️ Mid-term prime ministers: transitions of power between elections In episode 1 we explore the recent history of mid-term changes of PM from Major to Sunak. Feat. Gus O'Donnell, Mark Sedwill, Helen MacNamara, Simon Case and more www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

Mid-term prime ministers – Episode 1: Preparing for change | Institute for Government

Special guests Lord O'Donnell, Mark Sedwill, Helen MacNamara, Simon Case and others share the behind the scenes of the preparation for an incoming PM.

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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Huge thanks to my guests for this series Gus O’Donnell, Mark Sedwill, Helen MacNamara, Simon Case, Stewart Wood, Salma Shah, Lee Cain, Asa Bennett and Rupert Yorke

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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

🚨 Episode 1 of our summer podcast series is out!! We look back at mid-term PMs from Major and Brown, though May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak. Former cabinet secs and spads took us inside what happened and what makes a mid-term transition different. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

Mid-term prime ministers – Episode 1: Preparing for change | Institute for Government

Special guests Lord O'Donnell, Mark Sedwill, Helen MacNamara, Simon Case and others share the behind the scenes of the preparation for an incoming PM.

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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 06/08/2026

Andy Burnham must avoid repeating Keir Starmer’s failed ‘civil service reset’ For a PM who prides himself on plain speaking, he could do worse than start with an honest conversation about the relationship with the civil service www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/andy...

Andy Burnham must avoid repeating Keir Starmer’s failed ‘civil service reset’ | Institute for Government

Platitudes and generalisms serve no one: we need an honest conversation about trust.

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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

New from @drbenpaxton.bsky.social 5 ways all departments can use procurement to deliver on the government’s priority of supporting “growth and innovation in every postcode”. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/andy...

Five ways departments can help deliver Andy Burnham’s procurement agenda | Institute for Government

The government has asked departments to show how they can support its new procurement reforms.

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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

It was kind of Nicola to protect Gavin by pretending there were lots of other colleagues who were as obsessed. I am happy to have undone that anonymity for the good of the historical record.

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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Also worth saying for transparency that the reference to 'lots of my colleagues' by Nicola Hughes (NH) was undoubtedly a reference to @gavinfreeguard.com Others who worked here at the time (me) weren't quite as obsessed with craft beer but certainly respected Gavin's commitment.

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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 04/08/2026

Andy Burnham's government has announced changes to the prison early release scheme. But who is being released and when? Our graphic takes a closer look. Read @cassiarowland.bsky.social's latest comment on the prison capacity challenge www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/publ...

A chart from the Institute for Government on the breakdown of prison sentences, by sentence type, under proposed reforms

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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 04/08/2026

The UK is forgetting the dull bit of climate change policy @jillongovt.bsky.social tells us why the Treasury needs to take the lead on how we adapt to the heat www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/uk-f...

The UK is forgetting the dull bit of climate change policy | Institute for Government

The Treasury needs to take the lead on how we adapt to the heat.

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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 03/08/2026

Work with us! 🚨 We are looking for an Events Officer to help support the design and co-ordination of our programme of public and private events. ⏰ Applications close on Friday 7 August at 11:00. Find out more www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/about-us/car...

A job advert at the Institute for Government for an Events Officer.

Salary: £33,000-35,000 per annum

Deadline: Friday 7 August at 11:00am

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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Andy Burnham is setting out his approach to social care Our performance tracker from 2025 shows the damaging geographical and demographic ‘care gap’ in England. To take action government needs to understand how and where this care gap is forming www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Hannah White @drhannahwhite.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

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This will be a great webinar with @jillongovt.bsky.social @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social and @tompope.bsky.social - do join us on Thursday and send in the questions you’d like the team to answer…

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Rebecca McKee @rebeccamckee.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Great to see! Appointing lots of PPSs can be seen-often rightly-as just boosting the payroll vote. But used well they're a source of strategic strength for ministers As @aliceolilly.bsky.social and I said last week proper reform is needed to make commitments to fix parly relationships a reality

Fixing relations with MPs will require more than warm words from Andy Burnham | Institute for Government

Andy Burnham should be prepared to redistribute power in Parliament.

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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

There’s more recent events and comments I’m sure if you go on IFG website (the search function is pretty nifty if you ask it a q) but this was the main analysis paper back when www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...